The Edmonton Oilers acquired veteran defenseman Duncan Keith and prospect Tim Soderlund from the Chicago Blackhawks for defenseman Caleb Jones and a third-round draft pick.

The Oilers get: One of the best defensemen in the NHL. If it was still 2014. But it's – checks calendar – 2021. Keith has been on the decline for several years in virtually every metric you can dream up. In Tim Soderlund you get a skilled, diminutive forward who has yet to find any real rhythm in North America. Read up on Soderlund here.

The Blackhawks get: a prospect defenseman with some promise. Caleb Jones, when given the opportunity and given careful minutes, can develop into a second-pairing defenseman. He is the brother of Columbus star Seth Jones. But really what the Blackhawks get is much-needed cap relief, and as a bonus they get down to 40 contracts. As a further bonus they get that sweet draft pick.

Fantasy Players Impacted: Keith's ice time was 23:25 last year and there is much emphasis on this when you hear from Edmonton brass. But it was 24:16 in the first quarter and down to 22:14 in the last quarter – with power-play minutes making up 3:15 of that. He won't get nearly that many with Edmonton. He'll kill penalties and play 20 minutes per game, likely alongside Adam Larsson. This probably won't hinder or help any Edmonton rearguards, although this probably means they can't afford to re-sign Tyson Barrie. They have Darnell Nurse, Oscar Klefbom and Ethan Bear for the power play, plus prospect Evan Bouchard is ready to make the jump.

Still, there will be tons of pressure on the coaching staff to make the GM look good with this trade. And being on the ice with Connor McDavid can only help a veteran defenseman put up points. So Keith will get ice time early on – perhaps too much, to start.

The Blackhawks have a ton of young defensemen on the cusp. Adam Boqvist (right-handed shot, or "RD") is now ready to be the full-time guy, while Wyatt Kalynuk (LD) showed huge promise and is ready to take that step. Nicolas Beaudin (LD) and Ian Mitchell (RD) are both on the cusp. Adding left-shooting Caleb Jones to the mix is going to make things interesting. This may impact Kalynuk. As a fellow left-shot, Kalynuk had nine points in 21 games last year with the big club, including a run of seven points in nine. But another left-shot defenseman to compete wouldn’t help his chances.

Soderlund is a throw-away contract that sweetened the deal for Chicago. Now they can sign yet another undrafted European gem that they always seem to dig up.

Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:

1. Wyatt Kalynuk

Fantasy Players this helps, in order:

1. Duncan Keith